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    January 10, 2008

    Icebergs and bullied penguins

    Posted by Irene onboard the Esperanza

    Ice pinnacles
    Ice comes in all shapes and colours.
    ©Greenpeace/Jiri Rezac
    We were very pleased to hear that the Australian surveillance vessel Oceanic Viking has finally left port to monitor the Japanese government's whaling activities, and look forward to seeing them down here.

    Yesterday I spent an hour up in the crows nest, staring at the horizon through a pair of binoculars. A giant iceberg appeared, as big as Mount Everest it seemed. But as it came closer the iceberg shrunk, and I am pretty sure it was not by melting. I couldn't explain how this optical phenomenon works, but it happens all the time here that the air and light plays tricks on us. An hour passed quickly, no thanks to the eighties poodle-haired rock singer moaning in the borrowed mp3 player (no names mentioned since I don't want to offend any fans out there, and I might want to borrow that player again).

    Dave came across the cutest story about an Adelie penguin whose uniform does not match the rest of the team's. It lacks pigmentation, and is therefore beige. Individuals that stand out in this way rarely reach adult age; they get bullied by their own, and become easy victims to predators. Perhaps this little Adelie penguin is also an unusually tough one?
    Read the article: Bullied, mateless - life's tough when you're a beige penguin

    Adelie penguins
    Adelie penguins.
    ©Greenpeace/Irene Berg
    It was amazing to see the humpback whales feeding around our ship the other day, but I have to confess that penguins are my new favourite animal. My niece Elisa (two and a half years old) and I share our love for the little animated character "Pingu". I try to avoid attributing human behaviour to animals, but its difficult not to - just look at them! This was my first picture of penguins in the Southern Ocean, from a few weeks ago. The penguins seemed as curious about us as we of them. Perhaps they wondered what sort of a strange iceberg this is, and which species of ugly penguins we belong to!

    Oh, regarding the webcams: I have to switch them off now and then, and sometines the whole ship is offline, in case you wonder why they don't refresh for a long time

    |

    Comments

    I liked watching the Bridge cam. I would prefer to have an automatically-updating page showing just that. I thought it would be cool to project it on a wall. :-)

    Having worked in geology, it seemed to me obvious that examining satellite images would be easier than patrolling in a ship for weeks! Is there any freely published current satellite imagery of your area? Could someone there check on availability and cost of current commercial satellite imagery?

    Posted by: Bryan Kilgallin | January 10, 2008 1:21 PM

    I'm glad the Aussies are finally getting their act together.
    Will they share satellite or positional information regarding the Japanese whaling fleet ?

    Regarding the webcams.. can you sacrifice the "bridge cam" in favour of the "mast cam" - we want to see what's outside.. not the "ugly mugs" driving! lol

    Posted by: Dorian | January 10, 2008 1:31 PM

    Ice berg images are amazing! Would have been good to see them on the webcam too - mast and wing cam haven't been updated for about 24hrs :( Like others, i am also getting addicted to the webcam!

    Posted by: Loyaltya UK | January 10, 2008 2:42 PM

    Hi,
    I have been following the blog for some time now and it makes good reading. However I am a bit uncomfortable with the line that Greenpeace is taking to the offer of support by Sea Shepherd of its helicopter, plus the negative stance it is taking on sharing the location details if the japanese fleet is discovered. Greenpeace would seem to be missing the plot here. You are down there to ultimately stop Whaling.. right? So... here is an offer. I will PayPal GreenPeace €1000 if it co-operates with SeaShepherd. By doing so, you will have better chance of achieving the objective, save whales and create better press. Everyone wins....except the Japanese Whaling fleet.
    Addo

    Posted by: Addo | January 10, 2008 2:44 PM

    I think that albino animals are amazing. Here's a link to some more 'freaks':

    http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/549258472pIyhmo

    Posted by: Sarah | January 10, 2008 3:37 PM

    Got a few good iceberg desktop pictures for us? Would be very nice...

    Not too cold yet down there?

    Posted by: Juliette | January 10, 2008 6:41 PM

    WOW - that is some amazing bergs!

    Posted by: Nicole | January 10, 2008 11:54 PM

    Donations to assist with the self-esteem of the aforementioned beige penguin can be made here: http://www.beigebrigade.co.nz/catalog/index.php?cPath=36

    Posted by: Beige Brigade HQ | January 11, 2008 2:54 AM

    {The Oceanic Viking sailed from Western Australia on Tuesday to conduct surveillance of the Japanese fleet on its annual scientific whaling hunt in the Southern Ocean.

    But opposition justice and border protection spokesman Christopher Pyne today said a government expert had told him the former P&O cruise ship is only equipped to operate in sub-antarctic waters.

    "It means it doesn't have the ability to shadow the Japanese whaling fleet into the Antarctic waters if this source is right," Mr Pyne said.}

    http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/customs-ship-not-able-to-sail-antarctic-waters/2008/01/12/1199988636744.html

    Posted by: Bryan Kilgallin | January 12, 2008 3:44 PM

    {A spokeswoman for Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the government's customs ship The Oceanic Viking was still en route and no operational details would be made public.}

    http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23045940-2702,00.html

    Posted by: Bryan Kilgallin | January 13, 2008 10:27 AM

    "the Australian Customs ship Oceanic Viking has still not been sighted in whaling waters"
    http://greensblog.org/2008/01/16/whaling-pirates-the-japanese/

    Posted by: Bryan Kilgallin | January 16, 2008 1:16 PM